Destination Goa – 250 kms – 5 days – 10 bikers – one awesome experience
Organized by YHAI, you'd discover there's more to Goa than beaches, babes and booze! Perfect way to get a feel for the local flavor - be it the surprisingly rich bio-diversity or the delicious cuisine or the Goans' love for football or the beautiful architecture of the village churches. Highly recommended!

On the Friday night of Dec 11th 2009, I started to catch the bus to Panjim, Goa from Bangalore in the usual pre travel frenzy of mine. Made it to the bus stand just in time and the bus was late. Started the journey at 9.30 PM and with lot of hiccups on the way, I entered Goa state only at 9.00 AM the next morning and I was looking at a good 3 hours before I reached Panjim. Dil Chahta Hai was playing on the DVD in the bus and it was a perfect movie to get into the mood!

Day 0 – Joy Ride in the city – Panjim, Goaback to the top
After seeing off the inaugural batch of the sailors and meeting the rest of the biking group, I was getting impatient to lay my hands on the 21 gear, 18” Merida bikes arranged for us. Five had decided to drop out which meant we were a small group of 10 starting the epic journey come tomorrow. Out of the 10, apart from Sowmya and I, there was a big group of 7 from Mumbai – Aswini, Sailesh, Praveen, Prashanth, Sandeep, Claudy and Pankaj. Vinit joined in the morning and that made 10 of us.

WE - THE BIKERS!

At around 9.00 AM 10 shining Meridas were lined up for us. Apart from one, none of us had prior experience riding a geared bike. I was riding a cycle after almost 3 years. We went on a joy ride to Panjim Market to get a taste of the uphill climbs and the usage of gears and it was not so bad. Infact we saw the beautiful lanes, colored villas and I thought this was a better way to see Goa any day - Riding along the lanes of the capital city. Afternoon went by swiftly in anticipation and the evening was time for some action and the best part was we got it all for free! Yes, we got a boat ride far away from the shores and back for free. Vinit got much more than he had bargained for, and that was for free as well!

Spirits were soaring high now that the adventure was about to begin. After packing our rucksacks and depositing our extra luggage, we started out at 8.10 AM with all the cycling gear. A few customary shots and best wishes and off we head towards Dona Paula Jetty to catch the ferry that would take us to Vasco from where the expedition would begin. The climb to Dona Paula is a short but a tiring one for a first day. Just a glimpse of the days to come we thought. We reached the ferry and crossed the sea on a beautiful morning to reach Marma Goa Harbor at 9.10 AM.

WAITING AT DONA PAULA FOR THE FERRY RIDE

Our guide Manoj and the Merida Mechanic Kulveer joined us here and now started the fun. The initial 1 km of the stretch was an atrocious climb as I like to put it, and we struggled with the gears for a while before many gave up riding in favor of pushing the bikes uphill. I just managed not getting down. After this, one shorter atrocious climb and we hit NH 17. The ride was pretty smooth from here with nominal slopes.

Well you see, the thing is I never did biking of these proportions before. What I thought was atrocious climbs were nothing at all compared to the climbs ahead. But yea, you learn with experience and so did I. At 11.30 AM, we reached Velsao Beach from where we were supposed to bike along the beach to Mobor but Manoj decided against the idea as the water had come too close to the shore. But this was one of the best beaches I had seen in a while. Totally deserted with a small shack at one side, it was a perfect place to soak up the sun.

VELSAO BEACH - AWESOMEST BEACH

But we had cycling to do and reluctantly we headed towards our next destination Colva Beach. After an awesome downhill from Velsao, we reached Colva by 1.00 PM. Lunch by the seaside and lot of discussions on whether or not to ride along the beach, unfortunately we decided against it yet again and headed towards Mobor which was a good 15kms from Colva to catch a ferry to Assolna – our campsite for the day. Well the plan was to ride along the road for 10 kms and then get down to the beach and ride to Mobor. I was happy with the plan and in a while Praveen and I were riding way ahead of the rest. I completely forgot about the plan B and in no time we reached Mobor much to the Chagrin of our guide Manoj. It was only when I saw Manoj who came looking for us, I realized what I had missed – missed out a wonderful opportunity to ride along the beaches. So the next batches, if any of you are reading this, ride along the beach – rain or shine – just do it! We waited for the rest to catch up and we caught the ferry by 4.00.

TOWARDS ASSOLNA - THE LAST STRETCH FOR THE DAY

A short ride on the other side of the river took us to a football stadium which was our campsite for the day. The field looked lovely and well maintained. A brilliant starry night and dinner under the open skies left us rejuvenated for the next day’s ride.

Total Distance Covered – 40 kms
Total Time taken – 9.00 AM – 4.00 PM (including relaxed lunch)
Difficulty level – Medium (considering the first day fatigue and time to adapt to the activity else it would come under easy)
Uphill climbs – Not many.

First day was done and we felt alright except that my butt was hurting. We started out at 8.00 AM nevertheless towards Netravali. Passing through Cancaulim town and a stony trail, we reached the atrocious climb no3 where it was just impossible to pedal up. I managed to pedal until the almost top and now my bike refused to move. Reluctantly I got down and joined the bandwagon of people dragging their bikes up. Now it was all mining area with trucks constantly buzzing past us in both directions. Sandeep, Vinit and I were ahead today and finished the mining stretch by 10.00 AM. Sowmya joined us shortly and we four started further ahead through the forests, sugarcane fields and rubber plantations to reach Sulcorna. Sandeep left behind somewhere waiting for the rest and three of us were waiting near a T-junction for the rest to arrive from 10.45 AM. Meanwhile we had the sweetest sugarcanes from a field nearby. It was almost ages since I had sugarcanes and it felt Swweeeeet! :)

SUGARCANE FIELDS AND SUNSHINE

After all of us reached this place, we started towards Tanshikar Farms in Netravali and just before this farm we came across two more atrocious climbs and the three of us reached Tanshikar by 12.30 PM. It was a good day and we finished the day ahead of time. Sitting on the road eating sugarcanes with our loaded cycles next to us was a scene I never imagined myself in – but here I was doing it and relishing every moment of it!

With lot of time at our disposal, we headed to Sawri waterfalls in the late afternoon. 10kms of cycling, a few atrocious climbs which now seemed to less tougher than yesterday and 3 kms of trek took us to these magnificent falls tucked in pristine surroundings. We had fun alright, but the thought of climbing uphills to reach back to the campsite was never out of our minds. We started at in the evening and surprisingly it was a heavenly downhill all along. Once at the campsite, we were surprised at the fact that we had rode uphill all along in the afternoon to the falls – guess by now, the body was warming up to cycling. On the way back, a couple of us got chased by dogs – damn those dogs! Survived Day 2 as well.

SAWRI FALLS - THE UPPER TIER

Distance covered – 41 kms
Time Taken – 8.00 AM – 12.30 PM, rest came by 1.30 PM.
Difficulty – Easy
Uphills – very few but those few felt atrocious.

Today we pushed off to an early start at 7.30 AM as we were looking at a long day ahead. First visited the curious Bubbles Lake aka budbudetari from where mysterious bubbles appear from the bottom every time someone makes a noise.

BUDBUDETARI aka BUBBLES LAKE

From here the road passed through beautiful forests till 10 .00 AM and it was only today that I actually used the gears to its full potential. Once you get the knack of it, uphills seemed effortless. There were a decent number of uphills today. It was fun riding along the forest with the morning sun filtering through the trees and listening to the joyous chirping of birds.

ROAD TO NETRAVALI

It was Praveen, Vinit, me and Sowmya heading towards Kalem via Collem to Bhagwan Mahavir National Park which was our next campsite. The four of us reached Collem by 12.30 PM. The rest came slowly and had lunch by the riverside. It was quite a long break till 3.00 PM. Our campsite was 9 kms into the forest and Dudhsagar falls were 3 kms from the campsite.

INTO THE FOREST ACROSS THE STREAM

I was thoroughly bored waiting in the afternoon heat for the action to start. The road from here was an awesome forest trail passing through streams, alongside the pristine vegetation. It was a muddy stony trail with uneven terrain and I felt the excitement rise through me as I sped past the mountain terrain with much rigor. You would be shaken to the core – literally and otherwise! The sanctity of the pristine wilderness would leave you mesmerized with the realization that you are biking on such a trail. Soon it was Praveen and me cruising ahead and it was drizzling light. We stopped 10 mins away from our campsite at a small and only shack for some refreshments. Vinit, Sowmya and Claudy joined us soon. A couple of victory snapshots and we reached our jungle campsite by 4.00 PM. Now we were in proper jungle and once the rest joined us, we headed for Dudhsagar on foot.

DUDHSAGAR FALLS AND THE TRAIN ABOVE!

Apparently this jungle had leopards and Bengal tigers and luckily we did not encounter any. Although we did spot some fallen spines of a porcupine and they were huge. I could not imagine getting stung by one of those. After some precious moments by the waterfall, we headed back on foot to our campsite and it was now that the jungle was coming alive with the sun setting fast. A variety of birds were making their presence felt and it was delightful to watch them hop over and fly so close to ground around bushes totally oblivious to us intruders. And then suddenly a loud whistle to the tune of an unknown yet harmonious melody was ringing through the forest for a good amount of time. I wasn’t too sure if someone was whistling or a bird was singing. Dazed and confused I walked along to reach our campsite. I’d say a perfect day since I was in the familiar realms of jungles and such.

I slept the day before wondering what kind of bird that would be singing such a melodious song and how lucky was I to have witnessed such awesomeness. I was barely awake when the calls of the wild woke me up and the bird was singing again! A perfect morning and I was cheerful beyond all limits. We then went to the stream nearby and had a refreshing bath. Soon we headed off towards the other exit gate which meets the highway leading to our next destination – Dhargem.

A BLISSFUL MORNING RIDE THROUGH THE FOREST

I decided to stay behind this time and enjoy the morning ride in solitude. Sowmya was just ahead of me and it was one of the most beautiful mornings ever. Dried leaves were fluttering and falling in complex trajectories. Butterflies were fluttering by and sunlight was lighting up select few corners of the forest. And there were the birds chirping and my heartbeat. What a perfect morning it was. Soon we reached the point where we had to take a diversion from yesterday’s path to reach the highway. This was more of an organized trail than yesterday but it was up the hill. There were a lot of uphills today and it never was too tiresome with such natural beauty around. It was Vinit, me and Sowmya who reached first.

MORE FOREST TRAIL - AWESOMENESS!

We had already finished 20kms of the ride for today. There was only 15 kms more of plain roads to our campsite and it was just 10.00 AM. Sandeep joined us soon. Within half an hour everyone joined us. Whiling away sometime by the garden, couple of guys left to get clean shaven after four days into the expedition. Slowly after a very relaxed ride we reached our campsite for the day at Dhargem. This was again another jungle campsite by the stream. we spent a good 1-2 hours relaxing in/by the stream before an afternoon siesta after which we headed to Thambdi Surla’s Mahadeva Temple which dates back to 13th century A.D.

MAHADEVA TEMPLE

A relaxed evening with the stars and a dark campsite we settled down for a rendezvous with horror stories. And just like that, it was our last night at the campsite before the expedition ended.

Today was going to be one hectic day. We just didn’t comprehend the magnitude of it yet. Started off to a late start at 8.45 AM from the campsite and reached Bondla Forest Gate by 10.00 AM. Now we’d enter yet another Wildlife Sanctuary and I was more than happy to be on that trail than a boring highway stretch. The three of us started ahead into the forest. Now this was one atrocious climb. This was complete uphill climb to the entry gate which was 6 kms from this point.

BONDLA NATIONAL PARK

Yesterday I had experienced mountain biking today I was doing a continuous uphill on the swirling curves. Changing the gears I was all set for the climb and I couldn’t help but wonder what I called atrocious climbs on day one and what atrocious climbs really were – relativity! An hour of struggle along the steep climbs, Vinit and I reached the entry gate on the top. We were ecstatic right at that moment. Sowmya was soon to follow suit and now it was time to wait for the rest of the guys to arrive. We were reveling in glory at the fact that 6kms of uphill in one hour and the fact that toughest part of day’s ride was done. So much so that Vinit even proclaimed this was the 10th happiest moment of his life – seeing the finish gate of Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary.

THE CLIMB TO BONDLA

We waited from 11.30 AM to 1.30PM for the entire group to arrive. They had also stopped at the zoo for 30 minutes and I didn’t want to be late today as I wanted to spend some time at Old Goa. Praveen, Vinit, Sowmya and I took the directions from our guide Manoj to our destination and started off while the rest were having lunch. The entire uphill that we climbed took us 1 hour and the downhill to lose the same altitude took less than 5 minutes. That was so unfair. Even before I could relish the joy of the downhill, it was over. Beating the afternoon heat and the highway traffic we were making our way through to our destination, Marcel from where we would take a ferry to Old Goa. We knew there would be a few atrocious uphills on our way to Khandepar and Savoiverem but little did we know it was only uphill all the way up. It was scorching hot and the relentless uphills and sunshine was giving us a good fight. Tired to the extremes we pushed to our limits not to give up and ride along. It seemed eternal - the climb and the heat. At one point, we were on top of a hill and we thought it couldn’t go any higher than this but it did! There was more to climb. And finally at 4.00 PM Vinit and I reached our ferry point Kumarjuve and Oh! The sweet sense of accomplishment! Soon Sowmya and Praveen made it too. We four boarded the ferry to cross over to Old Goa. Now it was all over – no more challenges, no more uphill climbs, no more delirious descents, and no more campsites! I shall miss Goa! It showed me everything - beaches , forests, waterfalls, adventure, food and more.

AND FINALLY WE REACH THE FINAL DESTINATION

We were there at Old Goa and the two guys were having their own fun while Sowmya and I visited the Basilica of Bom Jesus. We had to take turns watching the cycles as they had no locks and we were now back in civilization. The entire group arrived by 6.00 PM and we headed towards Panjim, the last stretch. It was a very disturbing ride in the traffic for an hour before we were welcomed and congratulated back at the campsite. And that was the end of an epic journey. My first biking experience turned out to be one hell of an experience and now I am hooked. You’ll find me soon riding on the Leh-Manali highway!

Total Distance Covered – 65kms
Time Taken – 8.45 AM – 4.30 PM including a two hour break.
Difficulty – Tough – going to be one hectic day
Uphills – hell yeah! All of it!

Hearing the sweetest song by a bird in the jungles of Bahgwan Mahavir Sanctuary

Experiencing the thrill of mountain biking in the forest trails

Getting stranded on a faulty boat in the open waters under the open skies in the night

Experiencing the famous Cashew Goan Fenny, delicious local fish fry and fish curry

Awesome ride on the motor scooter at Dona Paula Beach

The very first totally awesome downhill ride on the cycle.

After years of watching the sunrise on the eastern coasts of Chennai and Visakhapatnam, my very first sunset along the western Coast

The last day memories of each one of our group after the long and tiring stretch- Claudy said “Mera to mood hi kharab ho gaya!” Sandeep wondered if anyone of these people (yhai) ever tried cycling before sending us off. Aswini was angry beyond all means at the long stretch. Sowmya thought the engineer who designed those roads was crazy. Praveen was willing to forgo the joy of downhills in return for no more uphills on the last day. All said and done it was undoubtedly one memorable ride!

The really cheap drinks on a lazy Saturday morning for lunch – perfect way to relax after a tiresome ride.

Neelima,Yet another awesome post from you. You truly are adventurous....going on these long hikes and bike trips one after the other. It must have been great fun riding the bike through the beaches and forests. Saru and I did a downhill biking trip in Hawaii one time and it was super thrilling. I love the wind on my face as the bike zooms down.

If I may offer a suggestion.....reduce the size of your posts. This could easily be cut into 2 posts. Most readers have short attention span, so they won't read long travelogues.

@ Vamsee - I live for vacations like these now-a-days.. Working in between only so i can sponsor my trips.. :DCycling was great fun really and downhills are the best part!

And thanks for the suggestion. I realize that this post is blown out of proportions but i tend to get lazy if i don't do it at once.. so i thought let's just get it done with. I still haven't been able to finish roopkund posts .. :(It feels like a heavy weight lifted off my chest once i finish a travelogue.. :D

Probably next time i shall break down and post the two posts at once.

@ Roshmi - Thanks.. yea.. the play of light was something we witnessed all through the trip. We used to start off early by 8 or so which allowed us to enjoy the pleasant morning sun filtering through the canopy and creating great patterns and pictures as well ... :)

@ Deeps - thank you..thank you.. :)Yea.. i liked the fact that we got to see the other side of Goa as well..poor place is stereotyped beyond all limits.. it has everything..beaches..forests...architecture..food..Dudhsagar was good..but unfortunately not in full vigor.. :(Maybe i need to make a trip next monsoon on the konkan railway.. the train journey was awesome though..

@ GMG - Thank you..Yea.. u'll like Goa a lot i am guessing.. :)

@ Nirmal - Thanks and Yes..definitely, next time i shall. I'll have to make a second visit to Goa anyway.. :)

Here is a special mention of you. My humble gift to you... A little treasure hunt to reach there!!!Check out here. This is the link to my blog page and from there go to the given link for your treasure. :)

wow. some experience there!!what coincidence, I'm crazy about bicycling and own a firefox fusion but my cycling expeditions are more of the endurance types.yours being the first biking experience Im impressed at your endurance, 250kms is by no means easy for a beginner.

@ Anoop - Yep! it was an awesome experience and I have totally fallen in love with MTBs.. Biking on a jeep trail in the forests of Goa was a high point. It's time i buy one of my own i guess. :)The first two days were the toughest.. later on even though the terrain got tougher..my body was adjusted by then.. thankfully.. :D

Goa is dear to me because of family memories. I was there in 1990 or so, and loved it. All the accounts I've read in recent times haven't been that inviting ... beaches and resorts and so on. So little about Goa's fantastic natural beauty. But reading your post, I want to join this biking trip right now! How awesome. This really is the coolest Goa travel story I've read.

@ Bindu - Thanks.. This was also one of the coolest ways i've ever explored a place! :)The bio-diversity of Goa is exquisite.. the forests and so many waterfalls.. It was a revelation that Goa was much more than beaches and the parties!

Read till end of day 1. reads fabulous. I would agree with Vamsee on the size of the posts and with you that if we do not write them, they never happen :-). So read them all at once but break in multiple parts while posting.

If it interests you, this whole series in multiple parts would make a great read at ghumakkar.

@ Nandan Jha - Welcome to my blog! :)It is so difficult to get the same levels of enthusiasm while writing the first post of the series and the last..so i do it all at once.. :DI'll try and post smaller ones from next time..I have been very busy lately.. will surely try to post this journey on Ghumakkar as well..

Hi Neelima - that was indeed a good coverage of the expedition and pretty useful details. Though some of them commented on the length, I really appreciate the details.. Thanks. I have booked for this year along with my wife (26-Dec-2011). This is our first time and your post gives us a pretty good insight on what to expect. Do let know, if we can reach over mail for some specific details - vinod_ok@hotmail.com

Hey awesome post - i could imagine every moment that you spent in this trek - even i wanted to go for this trek last year - but missed it as it was full packed and i could only manage going for the National Goa Expedition......but hey loved your post a lot ,,,,,,,too good.....i will try to make it this year.....

That was a very good post. Now i know what to expect in this adventure. I'm travelling this Friday. Can you help me answer a few questions.1) The luggage that we bring, how do we carry it from one place to other as its not possible to hold a huge luggage and drive a bicycle2) I've an DSLR, how do i carry while riding a bicycle as i cant hang it around my neck in those mountains. Had a terrible time in Spiti having that around my neck.3) Any general advice that you'd like to give me.

Hey Vikram, here are the answers. 1. The bikes will have carriers, carry your luggage on that. Leave all extra stuff at the Panjim campsite, you can collect it back at the end of the trip. They will give you YHAI backpacks to carry stuff.

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About me

A travel writer and photographer by profession, I am an offbeat and adventure travel enthusiast. Eschewing touristy things and sightseeing, I prefer to trek or travel to remote corners in search of extraordinary stories. I recently quit my 7-year job as a Software Engineer to do all of this full time! Words and Images in BBC, NatGeo Traveller, Travel+Leisure, Mint, Indian Express and more.

Head over to About me page to know more. You can contact me at i.thewanderingsoul@gmail.com